bauhaus magazine 3 – Things

The third issue of the magazine bauhaus has committed itself to exploring the essence of objects. Parallel to our large retrospective of the designer of the century, Marcel Breuer, for this magazine we have sought out objects that may at first sight appear banal, but which permit the analysis of utopia and emancipatory effect, of fetish and consumer behaviour – from teaspoon to cactus, from price tag to mirror, from casing to timetable. Are the objects suited as vehicles for a utopia? How does the copy influence present-day design activity and what, for that matter, is crowdsourced design? The magazine endeavours to discover how the Bauhaus has changed the way we deal with objects and what the debate about the object per se has developed into today.

At the same time the magazine poses questions about contemporary design, where it is no longer enough to keep just the consumer’s perspective in sight. Objects also have a connection with the people that manufacture, maintain and dispose of them, and with their environment too. The design discourse must find urgently needed answers to these questions.

After two issues, the magazine bauhaus appears in a new guise. In Matthias Kreutzer and Jens Schildt of the Amsterdam agency Our Polite Society we have found two new graphic designers for the year, who begin with the design of the magazine. In this, the Foundation takes seriously its claim of being a platform for young designers.

ISSUE 3: THINGS

Teaspoons: From home furnishings to the new human being – FRIEDRICH VON BORRIES on objects as educational vehicles for a utopia

Cactus: TORSTEN BLUME on the essence of things and the wonderful uselessness of a houseplant

Shell: The Bauhaus in front of the blue screen – GERDA BREUER on the staging of objects